This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
I booked a return LAX-SFO to have almost a full day in SFO as part of my big tour across America, and since none of this trip was to be in economy class then only First would do. I had flown First domestically in the US before, about two years ago on a trip from Orlando to Miami and that was with American, so I was expecting VX to really knock that out of the water.
I arrived stupidly early at Terminal 3 at LAX my flight was at 0900 but I wanted to enjoy all that the Loft had to offer as I had had to pay another $30 to get in as they only give lounge access to their long haul guests.
I was quite impressed with the terminal check in area, was very cool and swanky and did give that impression of some cool LA nightclub, which I loved. I had done online check in, which was a little swisher than VS but it didn't make the Passbook boarding card easy to download, it was slightly hidden, I do like using my phone as a boarding card, but that doesn't stop me collecting really boarding passes to keep in my collection.
The ground staff were lovely, I told her about my flight across to LA in Upper and that they had a lot to live up to and that one day, I want to go to Australia and would more than likely do it via hopping via LA and Virgin Australia, too much of a Virgin Fanboy this one is!! She said she hoped they lived up to expectations.
Through TSA in a few moments, very quick and no issues.
Terminal 3 at LAX is itself nothing to write home about and the line at Starbucks was very long, so I just waited with a bottle of water for the Loft to open.
I was the first person in there, from the perspective of the lounge itself, it carries the cool trendy theme with the decor and furnishings, I loved the Richard Branson character on the door to the men's room.
The food offering was worse than I had expected, pre-packed cereal bowls, crackers but no cheese, and some Bombay Mix which was tasty. Tea, Coffee and various soda's. I did need something a bit more filling, so I opted for a fried egg sandwich which was really tasty, but I was slightly annoyed to learn it wasn't even fresh and was prepackaged. The girl in the lounge had done a good job by grilling it but I would have thought it was fresh had she not ruined it by saying "we are meant to just take the out of the wrapper and put it in the microwave but I grilled this for you as I think they taste better like that". I should add this was another $9 and you had to pay by cash and order on an iPad that was just a bit too complicated for it's own good!
A lovely couple I had met in Upper Class were also in the VX Loft, quite surreal bumping into a fellow North Easterner 5000 miles from Newcastle!! They were off to Orlando on a Disney cruise after their few days in LA and were flying First on VX too and our flights left at similar times, I did name drop V-Flyer and hint that they might get some good tips here for cheap UC trips in the future as they were consigned to PE on their flight back from MCO to MAN.
Their plane boarded first and off they went. I was too busy enjoying the view from the loft and had to pop to the loo so missed first call for my flight and by the time I got to the gate I was caught in the general melee of economy boarding
I was tempted to wave my first class boarding pass and do a DYKWIA but I thought better of it.Got on and was sat next to a rather attractive young man
who seemed less than impressed by my tinkering with every feature of the seat, which really is a very good hard product, comfy, good recline, great leg room, feels quite private especially if you are couple travelling together.The girl serving First Class looked really bored, she didn't check boarding passes and there was one person who had to be moved back to economy when it became obvious that someone actually did have a legitimate claim to 2C!
The cabin crew did a PDB drinks run but it was a real effort for her to explain what was on the menu.
Then disaster!! The APU on the plane which apparently powers the IFE was broken so we would have no IFE, meaning no VX Safety Dance! I was most gutted!!
Up and away we go, and another bored and lifeless drinks run and pass of the snack basket.
The views over the pacific and over California were amazing, landing was smooth and on time and as a domestic arrival I was on a BART down to San Fran within of 15 mins of leaving the plane.
Overall, this experience of VX did not live up to the hype that I had hoped for, I know that domestic First with any airline is not gonna be amazing, but with American a few years ago, I felt more warmly welcomed on board than I did with VX! I think that paying $500 for a flight that could have been $75 in Y should have enabled me to use the lounge without having to pay and to feel like asking for what was available to drink wasn't a stupid question! I do think a letter will be going in to LAX Towers!!
Last edited by ColOrd on 02 Oct 2015, 19:00, edited 1 time in total.
Luxury & Boutique | Miles & Points Usage | Long Haul
TravelLessOrdinary | [email protected]
TravelLessOrdinary | [email protected]
